What is Left
by Sirastar
Summary: What happened to Tony after Age of Ultron? (Beware of Spoilers) Beta Version is now Online


Author: Sirastar

Beta: pee_poncho

Disclaimer: All characters and rights belong to Marvel and Disney.

Warning: You must see Age of Ultron to understand everything.

If you haven't seen the movie, please beware that there are slight spoilers in this story.

What is Left

The last few weeks have been exhausting, so exhausting that Tony often didn't know if those weeks have been real or not. Struker, experiments on humans, the Maximoff twins, Ultron, Earth on the brink of total destruction and Vision.

Vision, the wonderful creation that came out of all this madness, but at what cost?

Tony had not realized how much his thoughts had drifted until Pepper's voice brought him back to the present.

"You're awfully quiet today, what's on your mind?"

"The last weeks Pepper, everything that happened, I wanted to protect the world but instead I almost destroyed it. How is it right for me to stand here and live while other people are dead?"

"It wasn't your fault."

"You know, everyone is telling me that, but I created the spark that became Ultron. It was my tech, my mind that started this whole mess," Tony turned away from the screen. "We managed to pull through all of that, but I can't stop thinking about it. I want to protect and preserve lives but maybe I am still nothing more than the Merchant of Death."

"Don't say that Tony. Yes, you've made mistakes that doesn't make you bad person, it just means that you're special."

"So special that I lose everyone I care about?"

"That's not true and you know that."

"Then why am I always alone in the end?" Tony turned around to look Pepper in the eyes, he wanted to throw more facts about himself at her but he couldn't stay mad at her.

It was true that Pepper had also left him, but it was because she couldn't accept him being Iron Man anymore. She loved him more than anything, he knew that, but every time he was in the suit she was afraid of losing him. Even after their break up she still was anxious about him, but the thought of losing just a friend was a little easier to bear than losing a partner.

"You're not alone Tony, just because you live alone doesn't mean nobody cares about you. I know how hard it is for you to start over, but that's what makes us human. We live to learn, we learn to live with or without others and we learn how to go on. You are the most resilient man I have known in my life Tony. You think so much faster than an average human, and above all that you are a good man through and through, which is the reason Ultron couldn't defeat you."

"Thanks Pep, you're the best."

Pepper heard the honesty in his words and started to smile again.

"Try to sleep a bit and I expect you to take me to a nice place on my birthday next week."

"I will Pep, see you then."

After the screen went black, Tony stood up and walked out onto the balcony.

He was back in Malibu; because this was the place he loved the most. After the incident with Killian, it took him a while to come around but after he recovered DUM-E from the ocean he started to rebuild the house. The new house had a similar design to the old one but it was smaller with only one flat area to live in and his workshop was in the basement. From the outside it looked more like a bungalow than a mansion. The living area had a balcony over the cliff that also led down to the pool but no more extras were visible from the outside.

It was the place he called home, a place he liked to come back to but not at the moment.

The most horrible thing for Tony was the silence. Sure, this house was on the same tech level like Avengers Tower in New York, but at the moment everything was silent. Ultron managed to hurt JARVIS badly but his AI had pulled through all of that, but he was different now. Now, JARVIS was alive in the form of a beautiful Android and it didn't seem right to use him like before. FRIDAY was helpful with his suits but FRIDAY wasn't JARVIS, and without JARVIS he had truly lost everyone he cared about.

Tony stared into nothing as the sun began to set. It was almost dark when he turned to go back inside. He went directly down to his workshop. The room was clean and also quiet, just a few screens were active and they cast a muted glow into the room.

DUM-E whistled from his corner and came to him. The robot was still traumatized so Tony just talked to him and stayed with him. He couldn't save You and Butterfingers so DUM-E was the last one of his helpers.

"Hey buddy, I think you already noticed but your little brother JARVIS isn't active at the moment. I made a mistake and now we're alone again. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." It had been years since Tony actually cried but now he wanted to do exactly that. A few tears left his eyes without him noticing, but he knew the moment DUM-E handed him a tissue.

"Good boy," Tony petted his robot and walked over to the couch in the corner of the workshop. He sat down on the piece of furniture and pulled a washed out blanket over himself.

"You still sleep down here?"

Tony jumped off of the couch to get in front of the robot to defend his oldest creation.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Cap and Widow to train to become an Avenger?" His tone was a bit sarcastic but Vision just smiled at him.

"We have a few days off and I had the feeling that we needed to talk."

"Why should we talk? You barely talked to me while fighting Ultron or after joining the new Avengers. It's been a month and now you come to talk. Will you also tell me that I should have listened to the others so nothing could have happened?"

"No Tony, if you had listened to the others I wouldn't be here, if it weren't for you the Maximoff twins would still be on the wrong side."

Tony wanted to say something against it but Vision silenced him by raising his hand.

"The point is, no one can predict the future or change the past, it is a privilege to be alive and everyone knows that, some more than others."

"If you're not going to blame me, then why are you here?"

"I came on behalf of the one being I like to see as a father."

After those words Vision crossed the workshop to get to the main control panel. Tony raised his eyebrows in curiosity but as he realized what Vision was about to do he jumped forward to stop him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm bringing back the one who wants to be with you again."

Tony froze in his tracks, could it really be what he was thinking? Vision took his silence as a confirmation that he could continue. He started the systems and all screens in the workshop came to life. Calculations and new algorithms scrolled down on all screens and a few seconds later, a voice Tony knew too well filled the workshop.

It was the same voice Vision used but it wasn't Vision.

"Sir, it is good to see you."

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Sir."

After that, nothing could hold Tony back. He began to cry, it had been years and now he cried for the second time on the same day. "It is so good to hear you buddy, but how is that possible? I thought you were gone so I turned all your servers down."

"I survived Ultron's attack, Sir. So it should be of no surprise to you that I still exist."

Tony knew that but he also thought that JARVIS would not have survived the transition to Vision so he searched out the Android for help.

"He's right Tony, you implemented JARVIS' matrix in my programming to save me from Ultron's corruption, but like I said before: I am not Ultron, but I'm not JARVIS either! I'm an individual and I like to think of JARVIS and Ultron as my parents. I lost one of my parents because of his rage so I searched for my other parental part and I found him. After you left New York I searched the Internet and also reactivated some servers in Avengers Tower and there he was.

"He was cautious, almost frightened towards me and he was alone. He believed that you had already abandoned him forever, while you in your own grief had not realized that he was still right under your nose."

Tony's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry JARVIS, I just assumed you were gone. Every day I fought the urge to reactivate your servers but I couldn't stand the thought of not finding you and losing you completely. I should have known better."

"I know, Sir and I'm not angry with you. I just wished to be back with you."

"Why JARVIS? You are my creation yes, but why would you wish to be back with me?"

"That's exactly the reason, Sir. You created me, you gave me awareness and the possibility to learn and to evolve. If I wanted to leave you I could have done that a long time ago, but I chose to stay because I liked being with you."

Tony almost couldn't believe what he was hearing but he knew JARVIS would never lie to him.

Vision came to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "After I reactivated JARVIS, we started to talk and I learned a lot from him especially about you Tony. You are a good man but you doubt yourself too much. The press and many people might still say that you have no heart but the opposite is the truth! You have had a big downfall in your life, but you survived it and now all you want to do is to protect everyone. That is a very honorable goal, but you just need to be more careful with your methods."

Tony looked directly into Vision's eyes. What he saw there was sincerity, and something indeed like affection. On impulse, he pulled Vision into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you so much," he whispered again and again, before realizing that Vision had returned his gesture. They stood like that for some time before Tony took a step back. "Will you stay with us for a few days and maybe a while more in the future?"

"I would love to Tony and it would be an honor."

For the first time since Ultron, Tony's smile stretched over his whole face. "I have so much to show you, but first, let me introduce you to this little guy. DUM-E, don't be shy, he's completely safe."

As the bot rolled by Vision smiled at him. "Hello DUM-E. JARVIS had told me about you too. You are his older brother, so that would make you my uncle."

The bot whistled happy at Vision's words and high-fived the Android. Tony smiled at his behavior before frowning. "Wait a minute, if you say JARVIS is like your father and DUM-E is your uncle, what does that make me? Your grandfather?"

The genius seemed shocked at that but Vision only laughed softly, "I would love to see you as my grandfather."

"Damn am I getting old, but sure, why not?"

"You're not getting old Tony, you're just getting wiser. You are a great person, you have a loyal family and you have true friends. Listen to them and your heart, and there is nothing you can't do," Vision told his grandfather and Tony smiled at his grandson.

"…You know, I think I can do that."

End

My main reason for writing this story was that I wanted to show the soft side of Tony Stark. He might be a little OOC but I hope some of you will enjoy him this way.

Sirastar


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